NO2 Spiking

[slingham64]

I'm lost.... I got a ten gallon tank about a month and a half ago. Was told by my LFS to get three goldfish to cycle the tank, after reading various articles on cycling, I asked should I leave just goldfish for a month or what? They told me one week would be fine. For some unknown reason I went against everything I read an listened to them. One week later i had lost two of the goldfish to what I'm guessing is amonia poisoning, or nitrate. I introduced two tiger barbs to the tank and one week later introduced a green tiger barb, between this time, the third goldfish died. Things seemed fine with the barbs for about two weeks, then one morning i woke up to one of the tigers dead. Figured it just was a bunk fish and moved on. Couple days later, green tiger barb died. Then I posted a thread asking what was going on, turns out I was vacuuming my gravel way to soon an ruining the bacteria. So since then, about a week an half now, I haven't touched the gravel. The past three days I've checked my NO2 levels, they've all been off the chart. What am I doing wrong here? I figured because there's always been fish in there, it would have cycled even though I went about it the wrong way. What should I do???

[Sasquatch]

Cycling can take a long time and with all the changes you've done in the tank (gravel cleaning, different fish), it's only slowing down the process.

When cycling you see things in the following order
- Slow rise of ammonia
- Rapid rise of ammonia
- Spiking of ammonia, first signs of nitrites
- Rapid rise of nitrites and then a spike
- Initial rapid drop of nitrites followed by gradual decline to 0; Rise of nitrates

If you're nitrites are really high, you're almost done, though it could take a couple of more weeks. Keep a close eye on your remaining barb and I'd probably suggest doing a water change to get your nitrites down. It'll slow down the cycling process, but the fish will stay alive.

I'd also suggets getting a different LFS. Three goldfish to cycle a tank is way too much and he obviously doesn't know how long it takes to cycle a tank.

If your barb does "kick the bucket" you might consider going the fishless route, or get a couple of danios, which are a much smaller and hardier fish to cycle with, but do a big water change first. You are using dechlorinator right?

Keep us posted, you'll find plenty of good help around here.

[slingham64]

It's a great store, just not great advice haha. I just checked my amonia levels, they're perfect, it's just my nitrates. I'm thinking I'd rather just power through it rather than a 50% water change. Bout how much longer do you think I have? And there's about two inches of evaporation, should I top off the water?

Yes I'm using Tetra Aquasafe

[Chrona]

If you still have some fish in the tank, and they are not overly sensitive to salt, I would highly recommend adding some aquarium salt, as it reduces nitrite poisoning.

[slingham64]

i've got red sea salt from my saltwater tank. would that work? an if so how much, it's a 10 gallon tank.

[Chrona]

I don't know about that brand of salt, but the recommended dosage is 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. Make sure you mix the salt in another container beforehand instead of just dumping it in.

[slingham64]

I went ahead and put in 5 tablespoons, 10 tablespoons just scared me after I saw how much 5 was. An I added some aquasafe to the water as well. So hopefully that'll take care of that. I'm just ready for it be cycled already haha... One can only dream.

[fishbiz]

If your gonna top off your tank, might just go the extra step and do a water change.

[slingham64]

i would but i'm not trying to prolong the cycling process, i think it'll be fine now, i added some salt with the top off. soon enough it'll all be done.

[Chrona]

Oh @(*#

I'm SO sorry. DUMP OUT HALF YOUR WATER NOW and dilute with new water!. I meant to write 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. Quick quick. 5 tablespoons probably won't be bad if you added it slowly, since people often do saltwater baths for fish, but you don't want to keep them in there for long.

GAH, I'm hitting myself right now for being an idiot.

[Chrona]

Ahhhhhh, read this read this!!!!!!!!

[slingham64]

Oh @(*#

I'm SO sorry. DUMP OUT HALF YOUR WATER NOW and dilute with new water!. I meant to write 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons of water. Quick quick. 5 tablespoons probably won't be bad if you added it slowly, since people often do saltwater baths for fish, but you don't want to keep them in there for long.

GAH, I'm hitting myself right now for being an idiot.

a[Only Registered Users Can See Links.] DUDE... seriously??? probably already killed it... an everything good going on in there. that sucks.

[Chrona]

The bacteria will rebound right back. Actually, I don't think they will even get fased by the salt. I was just concerned about the fish. Sorry again :/

[slingham64]

The bacteria will rebound right back. Actually, I don't think they will even get fased by the salt. I was just concerned about the fish. Sorry again :/

I changed it out. I wasn't trying to be rude, I asked for advice and you gave it, it was a simple mistake. It's just frustrating cause drama keeps happening with this thing and I'm trying my hardest to do everything correctly. Hopefully the Tiger Barb makes it through the night. If not, I'll go back to square one.

[Chrona]

I changed it out. I wasn't trying to be rude, I asked for advice and you gave it, it was a simple mistake. It's just frustrating cause drama keeps happening with this thing and I'm trying my hardest to do everything correctly. Hopefully the Tiger Barb makes it through the night. If not, I'll go back to square one.

I know, that's why I feel especially bad :(

In any case, even if the barb should die, you still have all the bacteria you had built up, so you can finish the cycle by adding pure ammonia (no surfacants, shake the bottle to see if it makes a lot of bubbles) to reach 5 ppm, or just add another fish in within 24 hours.

[Sasquatch]

Just a quick question.

Do you have high nitrites or high nitrates? If you have high nitrites (NO2) you're still cycling, if you have high nitrates (NO3) and no nitrites/ammonia, you're done.

I'm just asking because, reading through the thread, both are being used and it's a little confusing.

As for the salt, barbs are pretty tolerant, I think. He should be okay if you did the water change.

[slingham64]

Just a quick question.

Do you have high nitrites or high nitrates? If you have high nitrites (NO2) you're still cycling, if you have high nitrates (NO3) and no nitrites/ammonia, you're done.

I'm just asking because, reading through the thread, both are being used and it's a little confusing.

As for the salt, barbs are pretty tolerant, I think. He should be okay if you did the water change.

The test kit that I have is this as follows:

Red Sea Brand

Nitrite Marine & Freshwater Test Lab

NO2 80 Tests

An the reading it's giving me is

Nitrite NO2 p.p.m.
>1

[Sasquatch]

Well, in that case, you're not done cycling. I just wanted to make sure, that way I don't give you bad advice.

In that case, do a water change and keep testing nitrites every couple of days. Is 1 ppm the max for your test kit? If it is, it's not a problem, you'll just have a little more trouble tracking the changes. IIRC, ours spiked at around 3ppm and took 4-5 days to get below 1 ppm. With as many fish as you had, it probably went higher than that though, so it could take a while.

Best of luck and keep us posted.